Method and apparatus for dispensing ice-cream cones



Patented Mar. 12,

PA "FH-cfr.-.L

jnoLLYNiHqBAKnR, or DAYTONVOHIO, Assrenon' ro rnnfnannn MANUFACTURING COMPANY, ornAYmon, onto, A. conronnrrion or onro.-

'METHOD ANnArPnRATUs FoanIsPn-NSING ron-ennaivik conne.

Application mea november 1, 1924. sefiaiN@ 747,2?8.

My present invention relates to devices to usein refreshment establishments and the like for storing and dispensingice cream ous Jforms of containers have been devised,

but in all of these in addition to slowingdown the service there is the .added objection that the clerk must reach intothe container and remove the vcones with his hand. VThisis regarded as particularly objectionable.

f To overcome this objection 'I have devised la container consistingof atubularglass'mag- 4azine having at its lower 4enda mechani'smcA adapted to let the cones out, or eject them, one

at atime.l In some respects it resembles the y jcharge tube;fand ,Y v Y ',Fig. 6 shows a tray for. illing'and serving cones. Y i

well known containers for dispensingfpaper cups. To avoid having to handle the cones I' provide a conical receptacle which' the clerk holds at the mouth of the tube through which 25.tlie cones emerge from the container. K'The cone drops mto-this'receptacle and remainsV therein while the clerk iills it with ice cream.

. vThe clerk `then extendshis hand toward the customer, who with lhis own hand'lifts the eone'from the receptacle. `When not 1n use the receptacle may stand inverted von plateV or some other clean surface. The large man' utacturers,of ice cream cones nowV use automatic machines whereiny batter poured into a tank' is molded-intocones, which 4are baked and discharged from the ovens, all automatically, landy they emerge from the machine nested ready to slip into vpaper tubes, these tubes then being 4packed in cartons. 'y The en Y4:0 tire process is mechanical and the cones are not touched byhandsbefore they reach the retail dealer. Therefore', with my improved container and novel" method of handling thel cones, it is possible,"and quite practicable, Jfor rrthe customers hand to be the first which has ever touched the cone he eats. Where the cones are in tubes, as above mentioned, it is.v

Y p quite easy to ldrop them outof the'tube directlv into the maffazine" Withoutftouchincr D v v C lhand to them. A'In cases where twoor more customers are to be served with cones at a` table or elsewhere, a plurality of receptacles V maybe used, andas the cone's they contain are filled these receptacles may be set 1n sockets pen'sed with.

drawing, in'which,

portions other arm.

rlift: theirconesout ofthe receptacles, leaving? the latter standing in' the' tray. In :another form of tray the separate holdersarei I shall now describe one embodimentof lnvention, vrei'erring to the accompanying Fig. 1 isa side elevation of the apparatus, belng removed to display other parte; f .1v i a Fig. '2 is a plan View with the magazine re- Y moved, the viewbeing taken on the line y2-2 of Fig., 1;

i Fig. 3 is a ragmental viewof part the mechanism, seen'from the .interior 'of thede-v vice andlookmg toward 'thefront.;

Fig. 4 is aview showing the receptacleheld by the clerk for the cone v.emerging from" the container, y v.

Fig; 5 vshows a modification in the dis-` The various parts of the `apparatus,areat-y V l tached toor otherwise supported by abase 10,

' having a clamp 11 by which .to secure Ithe base to ac'ounteror 'other'suitable supp-Ort; lThe base 10 ism fact a ring, and a tube 12v-'fitted f into thisv ring extends vdownward n'to formv a one side ofy the holeV in the base. One pair of these arms lies iat on the base, and extendarm terminates in an oblique, upwardly ex-v y vtending cam 17. 'Thesecams' rare'in apposi-v tionV and diverge asthey extend upwar'd. A fsleeve 15 surrounding` the screw 14 restson` i the arms, one of which arms is oi'set-to permit.

it to lie on top of .thefotlierl arm where they Y overlap, while the lremainder of this 'arm lies y o Hat Yon the basein' the same plane with the` The 'second pair of arms 13,

which isfa duplicate of the "rst, is-v confined .Y

between the upper end ofthesleeve 1`5fan"d a cover plate 16, the head ofthe screw"14be l v ing on 'top'of this cover plate. While thesev f, -V

upper arms are like the lower ones, they are inverted, so the cams -17 depend. 'These'ape .r

posed cam-like terminals of the arms,and theirrelative positions, are wellshown 1nV Fig.v 3. `Theiront'portion of the coverv plate 55 a special tray. Then the customers may vis secured to the'bas'e 1,0l byscrews 18 andull-N v v 90 ing around the hole tothe oppositeside each-,

' the front of the hood, and'arrange'd to rock terposedsleeves 19. The arms of the respective pairs are moved toward each other by springs wound around the sleeve 15, with their ends anchored to thearms, as at 21. At

22 a slender stud set in .the base serves as a stop, limiting the .inward movement ofA the 'f on 'a 'tulcrum '27. The inner `'end 28 of this lever plays between the cams 17 on the arms.

When the lever is pressed downward 'the end "28.r`ises' and entering between the cams 17 spreads the upper arms. @raised the end 28 moves between theV cams 17 of the lower arms and spreadsthese arms.

The lever passes through a neutral position,

4 in which neither pair oit arms is spread, in

moving fromone pair of arms to the other. VSee Fig. 3'.

The arms 13 are adapted when inovedby j their springs to embracean ice cream cone 25v at a point near its upper edge, and because of its eonicity the arms afford ample support not only for one but for a stack ofcones The distance between the `upper and lower -arms is such'thatwhen the'bottom v'cone in a stackis in the embrace of the lower arms the upper arms areat the proper altitude toclose rvshall briefly explain the operation of the por-k.

ltions .already described. ln Fig.v l the end 28 ofthe operating leveris wedged in bef tween. theapposed ends of the upper arms,

the arms being therefore open.. The stack of cones, indicated with dottedl` lines,` is I.sup-

' rounding the dispensation o il cones. and cups are different in many respects. Onel diier-V ence is that while only the rim of `the'cup comes in contact with a persons. lips, Vthe reported bythe lower arms whichembrace the bot-tom cone. Liftino' the lever 25 will remove the inner end 28 of the lever,'which I shallhereinafter'refer toas the pusher, from between'theupper arms and allow these arms .toembrace the second cone 1n .the staclgthe Y, Spring 20 moving the. armsthus. fMoreover,

lowercams, and because of their Obliquity itmoves theV lowerV arms apart.

Iby'.referringto Fig. 3, it will be seen that.

the upper arms are permitted by the pusher to embrace the sec-ond cone before the pusher Vengages the cams 1.7 oi the lower arms. .Cons .tinumg its descent, the pusher engages the The duty of supporting the stack nowdevolves upon Vthe through the tube l2 intov the portable recep- Atacle held by the operator at the lower end ofV Vthe tube. It vvsometimes' happens, however,

that the bottom cone adheres to the cone` above it,.and by referring to Fig. iit will be vseenthat in its descent theend oi'thepusher will impinge upon the edge ot tie cone, in

vcase V1t fails to drop by gravity, and push it off l/Vhen the lever is whether the lever 1s leit 1n its 'upper or lower V"oi the cone above. rlhe'parts are so proportioned and positioned, relatively, that the arms move apart su'iciently ahead oi the cone as it is pushed down, toiavoid any `conflict or possible :injury to the cone. the bottom cone the operator next moves the "lever '25` fdo'uznward- This withdraws the pusher from between the lower arms and allows them to spring together. Continued downward movement of the lever causes 'the spread of the upperarms, when the stack off l thing is againv as in l Venceptthat there'v ison'e cone less in the stack'. y lit is immaterial position between-sales, as it requires an upward .and a downward movement of the lever .i

to eject each cone. d y.

The Operative parts lare. covered.V by the 4 hood 85,'which`hood terminates in a collar 36,'

forminga socket toreceivev the lower end of the glass inagazine`37. For the purpose. of guiding the cones to the armsfl a tubular memberBSis secured in thelowerend of the icollarand extends 'down to the lower arms,`

thus ,holding the arms down although allowing them suiicient freedom.v The portions of the arms, as at 32)-89-39-39, Fig. 2. Slots l0- are cut in the tube 88, Athrough which the projections .39 of the upperfarms extend.

These slots also serve as guides'vfor the upper arms and prevent their falling away v irom'the coverplate 16...

`While my invention has some of the characteristics of the well known machines for dispensingpapery cups, the conditions sur.-

vtheeup is usually removed from thefvcontainer Y. bythe person.l who is to drink from it, ywhile 'the cone is always handled by another before thefperson whois to eat it'takes it' into his'` own hand. ibrittle, -especially'when quite fresh. rldore- 'ice' rcream vc onesgareV crisp and over,`th ey vary some in eize. Mysprin.-{.?.` ictuatedk arms accommodate themselves to these laving ejectedV variations and there is no'danger of orush- .inO thelcones such as there mio'ht` be if the b 7 .f C

supporting arms `were Vpositively drawn into y a predeterminedpointfeachtime, as the supporting devicesfarein many of the cu'pfdis#y pensers.. Another'ditlerence is the relatively long distance 'from edge to edge of the vcones inr astack. On Ythe 'other hand, their pro- .nounce'd conicity enables cones Vto b e.fsepa rated very readily, evenfwhen they adhere,

yist' Vso moa-co5 feasible to positively separate adheringcones Vby pressure on one side of the edge. Cones usuallyadhere so little that no difficulty is a-cone in it.` Fig. 5 shows the tray previously referred to, consisting of a plate45, having a plurality of' openings surrounded by depending frustro-conical flanges 46. TWith dottedY lines a cone is shown resting infone ofthese openings. Th-e plate is provided with vlegs 47 and a handle 48. Y, A convenient form `for vthis tra-y is rectangular, with two rows of' three sockets each. yThe clerk 'may drop one or more cones directly from the container into these sockets, and standing the tray on the counter or other flat surface he has both hands free for filling the conesv with ice cream. The flanges 46 afford lateral support for the cones and keep them from tipping'or being unsteady while ice cream is beingput into them. This is a convenient way of serving cones at the tables in an ice cream parlor or to the occupants of an automobile. While the single holder shown in Fig."4 is more convenient when a single cone is being served, the tray-is better for'serving two or more cones at a time.

' in practice the arms 13 are punched lout of sheet metal, although they may be made inA other ways if desired. vl/Vhen made of sheet metal'the ends are bent upward to 'form Athe cams 17.V Asfthe outside of the bend assumes a rounded'contour the most prominent .part of the'bend'is naturally removed a short dis tance from the surface of the base, or of the cover plate. By making they pusher thin enough so it'passes beyond these prominent parts of the bends, vthe arms are enabled to grip the pusher slightly and tendto retainv the operating lever in its upper or lower position, as the case may be. This is not a-n"es.

f sential feature, but a convenience. lvVhile in 'the present casev I have p ivotedy all ofi/the arms on a single axis, one upper and one lower arm might be mounted on one'aXis and the other two armsmounted on another axis, these aXes being niorevor less adjacent to each other. T his, or any other substantially equivalent arrangementV of mounting the arms, isv

within the scope of my invention. Moreover,

separate springs may be used for the several arms, or a different kind of springs. Other equivalent mechanical arrangements whereby the broad obyects of my apparatus may be effected areitolbe understood as scopeV of myV invention.

What I claim `asimy invention and desire toA protect` by Letters Patent, is as follows;

1..:In a device for .dispensing ice cream cones, a base, a. pair of cone supportingmembersmounteditliereon, adapted to be movedl vwithin the toward eachother to engage thefeXposed part i of one cone in a nested sta-ck of cones and assume'the support thereof; spiings whereby said members are so moved, a manually operable member whereby to separate said supporting'members and-allow said cone todrop,

.and means for arrestingsaid dropping `cone at al point which brings-the next cone in the stackinto position to .receive similarsupport whensaidsupporting members are againsub- "jected to the `action of said springs. ce cream 2.- In a device forxdispen'sing-,i

cones, a base, a pair of cone supporting inem-5 bers: mounted thereon, adaptedy to fbe moved toward each otherto-engage the exposed part yof one cone in a-nested stack of conesV and a`s-v sinne the supportithereof; means `for so moving said members, r4amanually operable'member `whereby tol separate said supporting fmembeis, allowing the lsupported `cone Vto drop, means forI arresting the dropping'rcone at va pointwhich` brings the next cone into position toreceive support from said .sup-7` porting members, means Vactuated byV said manual member'for releasing the bottom cone fromsaid arrestingmeans after the first mentioned members have assumedzsupport of the manual member for :pushing the bottom cone ofof the supported cone after'the former is released vfromsaidarresting'means. Y

.73'.In apdevicevfor dispensing icecream f cones, a base, a pair of semi-circular arms pivotally attached thereto vvand to -each other, Withtheir freeends apposed, said arms being adaptedato move toward each other and embrace the exposedpart of onecone in a nested stack vof cones, vtherebyv supporting the emvbraced cone and those above Lia-springs for moving said rarms toward each other., and a' lever'mounted on said base jin proximity to said apposed ends, adapted'toiwedge between lthe ends and spread-thearms to release a cone held by them, saidleverbeing adapted,

rneXt'coneabove, and means actuated by said 100 I when Vnot holding` the arms apart to impinge 4 on the rimof a cone which has adhered to the cone supported byl the arms and push it therefrom.

4. 'In al device for dispensing ice cream cones, a base, a pair of semi-circular armspiv-v otallyattached thereto and to each other,

with their free ends apposed, said'arins being `adapted'to move toward eachy other .and em- I brace the exposed part of one cone in a nested ilio stack of cones, springs forcausing the arms to p so iactya subsupport fory the bottom cone in the stack, wherebyVv the stackis maintained at Vio an altitude enabling said arms to embrace the nextto the bottom coiie as aforesaid, a manually operable member adapted to separate the armssuiiiciently to release the cone it is supporting, and to remove said sub-support, means preventing said manually operable member from separating. the arms except v-f'heii the sub-support is in effective position, and trom removing thel sub-support except when the arms are to 'eiiibracea' cone, and a pusher wherebyas said sub-support is-removed'the bottom cone is pushedo of the next cone if Vit tailsto drop by-gravity.

5. Ina device for dispensing icecream :cones one by one from a verticalrstack of cones, a base, a pair.- ork arms pivotally attached to said base at one sideof the stack of cones7 said arms extending toward 1 the other side of the stack andbeing adapted to f move toward each other and embracev the eX- posed portionot an intermediate cone and support it together-with the cones thereabove,-

esuli-support adapted to support the bottoni 'f ne at an altitude to bring-the neXt cone above into position to kbe embraced by said arms; a manual operating member whereby to spread said arms and release a coiietherefrom, and to remove said sub-supportirom its supporting position, and means whereby said arms are made-,to embrace thersecond cone k,before the sub-support is removed from v.the bottom cone, and whereby the sub-support `is putinto vsupporting position before said cone is released -romthe arms.V Y

'6.111 a device iordispensing Vice cream cones one by one-from ;a verticalstack of cones; ia. base,. a pairfof arms pivotally attached to said baseat one side. of thev stackA oli icones, saidjarins extending towardthe other side'ot the staolrandbeing adapted to move toward each fotherland embrace the eX- posed portion ot an intermediate cone and support it together with the cones thereabove,

" a sub-support 'adaptedv to support the bottom cone an altitude to bring'VA the next' cone VYabove intoposition to be. embraced by said arms; manual operatingmember whereby tospreadsaid arms and release a cone'therefrom, fand Vto'reinove said sub-support from its supporting position,4 means whereby said arms are made to embrace the' second cone beifore'the sub-support is removed from vthe bottom cone7 and Avwhereby lthe sub-support Vis put`intov supporting 'position lbefore said cone is released from the arms, and a pusher VVoperated by said manualmember whereby as said member removes the-sub-support from the bottom cone said cone is pushed ott'- ot :the next cone. Y. 1 7.' In a deviceI for dispensing 'icecream cones one at a time from a Vnested 'stack of cones7V two vpairsv of Yarms pivotally mounted von a base at one side of the stack, one pair above theother, said arms extending approizi-k we 'and adapted y l y of either pair,according to which Way the mately halt way around the coneswith the ree tion pairf of tree ends being provided with opends ot each-pair brought into apposipositelj'; inclined cams which diverge in the i direction of the other pair; springs adapted to -inove the arms of each pair toward each other, enabling each pair ot arms to embrace a cone and support it, and lever ulcrumed in a plane intermediate said pairs of arms to enter between the Ucam faces on the opposite side of the stacln each Y the tree ends oi each pair brought into apposi-V y tion-on theopposite side of thestack, each' `pair oi' tree ends being'provided with oppo- .sitely inclined vcams which diverge inthe direction oi the other pair; springs adapted'to more the arms of each pair toward each other, enabling each pair of arms to embrace a cone and support it, and a lever ulcrunied in a plane intermediate said pairs of arms and adapted to enter between the cam facesof either pair, according*towhich Waythe lever is rocked on its tulcrum,` and. cam the arms apart, the distance betweenthefupper and lc ei arms being substantially "equal to, the

tance from the top oi one cone to the top fot the' next cone in the stach, the leverbeing .adapted toimpinge on the bottom cone as it separates the lower arms and pushnthe cone oil' it it tends to adhere to the secoiidvcone.V

9; lii a device' tor dispensing ice cream cones, a base, means carried thereby for supporting the second cone in the stack, a pusher adapted to iinpinge on the rim of the bottom .cone and push it oli of the ooiie above,and

a member supported by the base Vfor the lower end oi the .cone to lie against to balance the vcone, so the pressure oi the pusher on one the cone from its normal side will not roclr position. Y l p 110.11m a device for dispensing ice cream cones7 means Vfor supporting the secondcone 'in the' stach, a pusher adapted to iinpinge on ,the rim of the bottom cone and push ityoif lfio ica

ot the cone above, and atube Lsurrounding` :the lower end of the bottom" cone, through I.which thecone drops, .said tube inclining tofward the side of the cone on which the pusher acts softhe lowerV end of the cone will nearly touch the interior of the tube While the pusher pushes the coneott.

noimriv ii'. BAKER. 

